Qutuz

Saif ad-Din Qutuz (1210-24 October 1260) was the Sultan of the Qutuzid Sultanate from 1259 to 1260, succeeding al-Mansur Ali and preceding Baibars. He defeated the Mongol Empire at the Battle of Ain Jalut, but he was killed by his general Baibars, who seized power after his death.

Biography
Saif ad-Din Qutuz was born in 1210 to the Qutuzids, a dynasty of Sunni Muslim Turks. Qutuz was enslaved and was sold to Sultan Aybak, who made him his Vice-Sultan. In 1257 Aybak was assassinated, and Qutuz resumed serving as Vice-Sultan under his son al-Mansur Ali. During al-Mansur Ali's rule, in 1258, the Mongol Empire sacked Baghdad and massacred 2,000,000 Muslims before taking over most of the Middle East. Qutuz encouraged his men to depose al-Mansur and give Egypt a stronger ruler to resist the Mongols; on 12 November 1259, Qutuz deposed his liege and became the new sultan of Egypt. Against the advice of many, Qutuz decided not to surrender to Hulegu Khan, whose Mongol armies sacked Damascus and invaded Syria. Hulegu left the front lines when his brother Mongke Khan died, as he had to go to the Mongol capital of Karakorum to elect a new successor. Qutuz took advantage of this and defeated Kitbuqa's Mongol army at the Battle of Ain Jalut, crushing the Mongol army and retaking Syria. However, the successful Mamluk general Baibars had three emirs strike Qutuz down as the army returned home, and Baibars seized power.